Principal Testing Rigs & Labs Technician

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority; Abingdon; On-site; GBP 51,000 - 63,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary + allowances

Performance bonus

Pension plan

Annual leave

Site closure

Job summary

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) seeks a Principal Testing Rigs & Labs Technician to provide senior technical leadership in its experimental laboratories. This role blends hands-on mechanical and electrical work with day-to-day lab operations, ensuring safe, high‑quality test rigs and activities.

Close collaboration with engineers and scientists will translate designs into robust test setups. You will mentor technicians and apprentices, drive safety, calibrate and maintain

Qualifications

• A STEM or technical qualification or equivalent practical experience.
• Extensive hands-on experience in laboratory, prototype or experimental test environments.
• Strong mechanical and/or electrical technical capability.
• Experience delivering and operating complex experimental setups (pressure, vacuum, cryogenic, high voltage).
• Ability to interpret and produce engineering documents.
• Experience supervising or mentoring technical staff.
• Organised, problem-solving, able to work autonomously.

Responsibilities

• Take day-to-day ownership of safe operation of testing rigs and labs.
• Provide technical lead for build, commissioning, operation and decommissioning.
• Translate designs into safe, buildable test setups.
• Lead complex experimental work, troubleshoot and reduce risk.
• Maintain lab assets, tooling and calibration.
• Lead risk assessments and safety investigations.
• Create procedures and ensure high quality data records.
• Support process improvements in lab workflows and instrumentation.
• Mentor technicians and apprentices, upholding safety standards.
• Engage with stakeholders to clarify requirements and manage expectations.
• Occasionally deputise for Lab Operations Manager.

Skills

Hands-on laboratory expertise

Mechanical and electrical capability

Experience with experimental setups

Technical leadership

Procedures and documentation

Mentoring technicians

Autonomous working

Safety and risk assessment

Education

STEM technical qualification or equivalent experience

Tools

Manual lathe

CNC milling

Job description

Principal Testing Rigs & Labs Technician

Overview of Responsibilities

About us Fusion, the process that powers the sun and stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs. UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research organisations to achieve ground-breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid by developing the power stations of tomorrow and the skilled workforce to deliver them.

About the job

We are recruiting a Principal Testing Rigs & Labs Technician to provide senior-level technical leadership within our experimental laboratories. This is a highly practical role, drawing on extensive mechanical and electrical experience, it combines deep hands‑on expertise with day-to-day operational responsibility for testing rigs, laboratory equipment and experimental activities. You will be the principal technical lead for laboratory operations, ensuring experiments are built, commissioned and run safely, efficiently and to a high technical standard.

Working closely with engineers, scientists and programme teams, you will translate experimental designs into robust, real-world test setups, mentor technicians and apprentices, and help evolve laboratory capability to meet the needs of novel and emerging technologies.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Take day-to-day ownership of the safe and effective operation of testing rigs and laboratory facilities


• Act as the technical lead for experimental build, commissioning, operation and decommissioning activities


• Translate experimental designs into safe, buildable and high-quality physical test setups


• Provide hands‑on leadership during complex or novel experimental work, troubleshooting issues and reducing technical risk


• Ensure laboratory assets, tooling and equipment are maintained, organised, calibrated and fit for purpose


• Lead risk assessment, safe systems of work and incident investigation within laboratory environments


• Generate and maintain technical procedures, experimental documentation and high-quality test data records


• Support continuous improvement of laboratory processes, workflows, tooling and instrumentation


• Supervise, mentor and develop technicians and apprentices, setting high standards of professionalism and safety


• Engage with internal and external stakeholders to clarify requirements, provide expert guidance and manage expectations


• Deputise for the Testing Rigs and Labs Operations Manager when required

What You’ll Bring

• A relevant technical qualification in a STEM discipline, or equivalent practical experience


• Extensive hands‑on experience in laboratory, prototype or experimental test environments


• Strong mechanical and/or electrical technical capability


• Experience delivering and operating complex experimental setups (e.g. pressure, vacuum, cryogenic or high‑voltage systems)


• Proven ability to take ownership of laboratory operations and experimental delivery


• Ability to interpret and produce engineering and technical documentation


• Experience supervising, mentoring or coaching technical staff or apprentices


• Strong organisational and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to work autonomously


• Manual or CNC lathe & Mill experience

UKAEA is an onsite organisation, and this role requires regular onsite presence (usually between 3-5 days in any given week) in line with business needs. We actively support flexible working arrangements where this is compatible with the role.

Benefits

• A salary of £57,117 (inclusive of a 5,800 specialist allowance)


• Up to 7% corporate performance bonus


• Final salary defined benefits pension scheme with an equivalent of 21.5% employer pension contribution


• 25 days annual leave plus 2.5 ‘privilege’ days; 8 Bank Holidays


• Additional 3 days of site closure over Christmas break


• Flexible working options plus family-friendly leave provisions

Our commitment to ED&I

UKAEA’s mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce.

Please email [e-mail] if you have any questions or require adjustments to help you participate fairly in our recruitment process, for example changes to the way we interview or share information. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment experience for all candidates.

We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. All appointments are made on merit and further information can be found here.

Salary

£57,117 (inclusive of Specialist Allowance) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension

View benefits

Programme

Department Technology Department

Discipline Engineering

Site Location UKAEA Culham, Oxfordshire

Type of Employment Full-time

Reference Number REF4128H